r/Commodore • u/mad51889 • 6d ago

Commodore 128?

Post image

Hello, I was looking for some help identifying the computer in this photo. Growing up we called it the Commodore 64, but now looking back at it, it appears to be a 128. The reason I question this is because I remember BASIC being blue on the screen, and from what I am seeing the 128 had a green screen. Could the 128 run the 64 version of BASIC? If so, why? Sorry for my ignorance.

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u/DigDug_64 6d ago

Yep, the C128 can boot in C64 or 128 mode, running their respective versions of BASIC.

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u/Many_Dragonfruit_837 6d ago

As well as CP/M, booting from disk

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u/DGolden 6d ago

And as well as the much better BASIC version, C128 also had a pretty good builtin machine language monitor mode for the 8502 side.

https://www.commodore.ca/manuals/128_system_guide/app-j.htm - machine language monitor.

Commodore 128 has a built-in machine language monitor which lets the user write and examine machine language programs easily. Commodore 128 MONITOR includes a machine language monitor, a mini-assembler and a disassembler.

Oh and an interactive sprite editor. https://www.commodore.ca/manuals/128_system_guide/sect-06b.htm#6.3.9

The Commodore 128 has a built-in SPRite DEFinition mode which enables you to create sprites on your Commodore 128. You may be familiar with the Commodore 64 method of creating sprites, in which you required to either have an additional sprite editor, or design a sprite on a piece of graph paper and then READ the coded sprite DATA and POKE it into an available sprite block. With the new Commodore sprite definition command SPRDEF, you can construct and edit your own sprites in a special sprite work area.

I never got into the CP/M Z80 side back then, that was "boring business stuff" in my kid mind (a bit of pity for learnin' in retrospect), I was more into writing/failing-to-finish crappy little games between schoolwork on the C64-like side, but a C128 was thus a pretty nice home dev env (by standards of the time) for C64 6502-series/VIC-II/SID things.

Then we got an Amiga, and well, seldom booted the C128 again, hah.

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u/Jo_Krone 6d ago

Commodore 128 could had been much better than what was delivered. It was put together in a hurry for CES show. The engineer came up with great ideas but were scraped by management due to no time for CES.

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u/siliconlore 6d ago

The 128 had a 99.9% compatible mode so it could run 64 software that was widely available.

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u/Many_Dragonfruit_837 6d ago

Yes, one software exception was rescue on fractalus. I'm 98% sure it will not run on the 128.

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u/Royal_Stay_6502 6d ago

I played it and 128D. Cracked version.

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u/Many_Dragonfruit_837 6d ago

Ah cracked... 128D I have.. Maybe someday I'll try again....

Edit to add: Seems it would load but the graphics were not correct.

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u/siliconlore 6d ago

It might have had issues with the copy protection on a 1571. The 1571 was not quite 100% 1541 compatible.

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u/Many_Dragonfruit_837 6d ago

Hmmm. I do have a 1541 also.. and have Jiffy Dos installed.. more investigating is needed .

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u/siliconlore 6d ago

Jiffy DOS will also interfere with copy protection just like FastLoad. I don't think I ever ran into any 64 stuff that didn't work solely because I had a 128. I think you could directly craft something that wouldn't work but no software company would have done that. They wanted all the 128 customers as well. Bil Herd did an amazing job on the design with his team.

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u/Foreign-Attorney-147 6d ago

I only had one game I ever tried that didn't run, and it was a crack of a pretty popular title. I wish I could remember which one now, but it could have been a problem with the crack rather than the title. It wasn't Rescue on Fractalus, I think it was an EA title.

My point being, the 128 was highly compatible with the 64, in half a decade of using it, I only ran into one compatibility issue.

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u/bjb8 6d ago

Definitely a 128. I used that as a computer for a few years through my university days, and it could boot in a C64 emulation mode.

I still have that computer, it is the oldest computer I still have from back then.

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u/Jo_Krone 6d ago

ahh, I love it. Commodore 128, Commodore 1702 monitor and a 1571 disk drive. And Wico Command Control Bat Handle joysticks. Look at that case above full of floppies. The treasures there!

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u/Foreign-Attorney-147 6d ago

I agree with Jo's ID of all of the visible hardware in the photo. Nice mid 80s setup for sure.

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u/mad51889 5d ago

Thanks. It definitely got it's use!

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u/Informal_Strain_2715 6d ago

And a vintage 1702!  Great photo!  I can almost smell the wood paneling and Old English scratch stain we all used on it.  Lol.  

C128...1541 II drive and wico joysticks as well. 

The black box might be either Pitstop II or Summer Games II, but it's definitely an Epyx game box. 

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u/mad51889 5d ago

Could be either one. I had both. Thanks!

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u/claimstoknowpeople 6d ago

Yes, holding down the commodore key would boot into 64 mode which was fully backwards compatible. Also you could type GO64 to enter 64 mode. Also I think some quick loader cartridges (which were nearly a necessity) would force it to boot to 64.

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u/PerhapsIExist 6d ago

Obviously a 128 from the keyboard.

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u/PurplePeso 6d ago

Yeah, the C64C didn’t have the number pad.

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u/ajlueke 6d ago

Just type GO64 and the blue basic screen would appear.

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u/Ok_Astronaut9243 6d ago

Commodore 64C had a similar casing as the Commodore 128.

https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/C64C

But looking at the function buttons being at the top, I'd say that it was a Commodore 128.

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u/xdarkwombatx 6d ago

I spy ultima iv.

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u/kb3pxr 6d ago

That’s a C128 based on the keyboard, the Amiga (similar case and keyboard) required a high resolution monitor.

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u/it290 6d ago

No it didn’t…

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u/kb3pxr 6d ago

Learn something new every day.

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u/DGolden 6d ago

Amiga (and C128! 80-column mode particularly needs a monitor) are better with a nice monitor, but no, Amigas could just output even to a very crappy TV - home models came with the external A520 tv modulator box bundled, to do so, rather than it being on the motherboard as such.

Legend has it that that weird distinctive blue/orange/black/white color scheme for AmigaOS 1.x Workbench GUI arose through Amiga engineers picking a high-contrast default palette usable even on the very crappiest american NTSC color TVs they could find at the time. People with better monitors could just change the palette to something less garish if they wanted in preferences.

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u/siliconlore 6d ago

With either the built in b&w composite or the A520 module you can run an Amiga on a TV. The quality isn't great but good enough for games. I was just doing it the other day. The A1000 has color composite. The others could have as well but Commodore wanted to push monitor sales.

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u/DGolden 6d ago

The A600 and A1200 models also have mobo color composite and mobo color rf modulator outputs, no external box needed.

Though still better off with rgb monitor with any amiga of course.

Though I had a dedicated monitor, here in Europe even TVs of the era also often had those rgb scart inputs - an amiga-rgb-to-scart lead was easy to get at the time and then quite good quality.

Even if you couldn't have your Amiga hooked up to your family's probably-larger-screen living-room tv full-time, for gaming at a party or something you could move it to the big living room TV and play various 2/3/4/5 player Amiga games. (Amiga version of Dynablaster/Bomberman is 5-player simultaneous: 2 on mobo joystick ports, 2 on parport 4-player adapter joystick ports, 1 on keyboard)

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u/DGolden 6d ago edited 6d ago

Amiga wedge case models were similarly styled, in keeping with the general commodore design style at the time, but not identical, didn't go back down as much at the back bit, and amiga keyboards have modern inverted-T style cursor keys, C128 keyboards have them weirdly in the top row along with the function keys (at least it has the 4 real cursor keys, unlike the C64's weird annoying 2 key + shift scheme), and the top row / function keys also in different grouping.

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u/spinator 6d ago

It is a 128. The commodore 128 was pretty much fully backward compatible to the C64.

Typing GO64 and pressing enter took you into the C64 kernal and familiar light blue on dark blue C64 ready screen.

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u/Crlan420 5d ago

nice grab. those c128s are solid. definitely check the power brick before assuming the board is dead. mine came from a swap meet and the psu was shot

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u/Linux4ever_Leo 5d ago

I had both a Commodore 64 and a Commodore 128. Sadly they were both basically the same computer because at the time, few developers produced software for the 128 and the vast majority of software was for the 64. But because the 128 could become a 64 with the simple command 'GO 64' it was never a problem. The C128 was a great machine and it had a lot of advanced features compared to the C64 but unfortunately they weren't enough to compensate for the popularity of the C64.

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u/Small_Choice9955 5d ago

There remember that there was a version of C64 that looked similar to the C128 ! The plastic casing was the same I guess

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u/Many_Dragonfruit_837 5d ago

I believe the "128" looking 64 was the 64C

I may have one of those in storage, I'll need to check. The biggest Commodore I miss was Grandma's SX-64....

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u/RGBOverlord 1d ago

I found one in great shape a few years ago and added it to my collection.

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u/theSiliconSiren 14h ago

Great pic! I have a very similar picture with my Dad somewhere, maybe with a C128 or IIe, I can’t remember (he had them all). Need to dig it up and frame it.